Muleys, Blacktal or whitetail????

[The Doc]

whats your favorite to hunt?

Ive shot all 3 species, all fun to hunt . for me with deer it is really enjoyable to hunt them. im much more relaxed than with elk. elk i take very serious {they taste so good}
i prefer mature muleys.

[Freebird134]

I've never hunted blacktail, but I definitely would take a big mature mulie over just about anything. Since I left Idaho (and the west) for school, I've killed a bunch of whitetail in the east (Connecticut) and midwest (Wisconsin). And not a single one was as exciting as a mule deer hunt!!!

[oilcan]

Cut my teeth hunting Blacktails but i"d take a muley hunt any day.

[The Doc]

Cut my teeth hunting Blacktails but i"d take a muley hunt any day.

agreed. where did you hunt blacktails?

[JohnFitzgerald]

High Desert Mulies, but I wouldn't mind going on a good whitetail hunt.

[ElkNut1]

I too have taken all 3 species & have to say I too have my sights on better bucks these days, I like the Muleys for sure, not a real Trophy hunter but just starting to get the itch in locating/glassing for the bigger guys! Of course we all define Big differently! (grin)

ElkNut1

[oilcan]

I hunted them in Mendocino B-3 took my first Archery Buck up there.Great Memories with my Dad Friday nights after my football games we would take off in the cabover camper.I would crawl in the back and sleep all the way up there wake up in the morning and be ready to go.

[slim9300]

Mule deer, Blacktail then Whitetail in that order.

[WVARCHER]

Whitetails for 35 yrs....Want a big mule deer!!!!

[Buckriser]

I've only ever hunted Mule deer. I'd love a chance at a whitetail, but the mulie is where my heart is.

[JoeH2o]

Mulies, but I would like a big ol whitetail on my wall.

[elkmtngear]

I've killed a lot of Muleys and Blacktails...never hunted Whitetails, so it is definitely on my "bucket list"!

[Swede]

I have hunted and killed, with bow and rifle, Mule deer and Blacktail deer. A big buck of either species is a great trophy. I have a few trophies of both, but today I think I would prefer a big Blacktail again even though I have a great Mule deer hunt planned for this August.

[LckyTylr]

Haven't hunted Blacktails yet.

Honestly, I'd prefer Whitetails. I know they aren't as big and impressive a mulies, but I'm still of the belief that they are the smarter species between mulies and whitetails. Maybe it would be different if I hunted whitetails in an area with less pressure, but hunting whitetails in Upstate NY with the rest of the Blaze Orange Army . . . . . . was never easy. Even the young bucks were smarter than most of the mulies I have encountered thus far. Maybe I have only encountered the lower end of the genetic pool. I have a lot of respect for both species, mulies amaze me when I see some of the places that they hang out and how easily they cover ground. Whitetails just seem so crafty to me, I think they have a 6th sense.

[Haulin'Quarters]

I live in whitetail country and have never shot one (yet)....Muleys are my favorite, well besides elk of course.

[Ben Nicholson]

I'm a whitetail guy. Of course I live in the whitetail Mecca of Iowa.

[BowElkDwn]

I have only killed whitetail and muley's. Blacktails are on my bucket list.
If I had to choose between muley's and whitetail I would have to pick high country big muley's. I really do like both though and sure wouldn't turn down a good whitetail hunt.

[CrazyElkHunter]

I've taken several deer in 46 years of hunting them. Mainly with a bow. Living in Calif., we actually have 3 species. Mule deer, Blacktail deer and a Calif Mule deer which is a crossbreed of mule deer and blacktail deer and body size is in between the 2 with blacktail being the smallest. I have taken desert mulies in Arizona and Coues deer, a miniature whitetail. Ive taken mule deer in several western states. Whitetail in Texas and Kentucky. I love hunting all of them, with the Coues being the most challenging with a bow. Out of all of them, I enjoy the whitetail over all of them to eat. They have the least gamey taste. The mule deer I've taken all tasted different. Desert muleys had a more sagey taste and grew wider antlers while mid western had a more wild game flavor and smell. So in my mind, if you broke it down by their territory and their differences, there could be several species. In Calif., you could shoot a blacktail deer, but if it taken outside the boundaries Calif.Fish and Game designate, it could not be put in the record books as a blacktail deer because of crossbreeding. Main part is, I've been very fortunate to have taken all of them with a bow.

[bowpackerrob]

The whitetails are great but after staying on your feet chasing bugling elk or spot and stalk muleys, it is tough to come home and sit and sit and sit hunting whitetails. U guys who live in elk country should count yourself so lucky!

[Lefty]

Ive3 killed all three
I wish I was in ND or SD for whitetails and mulies, big open country and lots of game to see.
Archery: I would like to get in a real woods loaded with whitetaills

[bullrub]

Have taken lots of muleys and some blacktail , some nice ones and some not so nice. Last year I finely killed my 1st whitetail with my muzzle loader. But the muleys are my real passion.

[pointysticks]

just as much as an ELK..i would LOVE a couse whitetail.

get one of those..each. i would smile forever..until my mind turns to a moose.

[elkohalic]

I haven't shot a muley since I left Colorado and it is killing me, I am building up points to go with a couple of my buddies. Last fall in Colorado I drew back on a 200+ muley at 12 yards and had no tag, it was in a fairly easy draw area so I put in for 2nd choice and didn't draw a tag ! hmm go figure.

Any of you guys that want a whitetail, I have several farms to hunt and know of countless public areas I would be willing to share. I am in central Iowa so get a tag and I will hook you up.

[Vanish]

I grew up hunting Whitetails in Upstate and Western New York. It is a completely different experience than hunting them in the midwest, which I did last year. You were often lucky to see one buck during the gun season, it didn't matter if it was private land and the season was MUCH longer, almost a month.

Last year my wife and I hunted a midwest state (since we live in CO), and it was a blast ... literally! A much more fun hunt, however, I could see how it would get "old" by being so "easy." The season was only 9 days, but we filled 3 of 4 tags on the first day, and it would have been all 4 if I didn't suck. I saw more bucks in three days than I had in the last ten years hunting NY. This was on public land, of which the state has quite little. I was warned of the "Orange Army" I would find on public land. It was laughably non-existant compared to even the private land in NY.

Qualifier: I have never hunted mule deer.

The mule deer I have come across while hunting elk, and just being in the backcountry in general, seemed far dumber than whitetails, even those midwestern buggers. Mule deer will jump up and look at you from 20 yards away ... I've rarely had that happen with a WT. Last year elk hunting I could have easily taken a dozen mule deer. Of course, none of them were giant bucks, I bet they're smarter.

Having said that, a high country archery mule deer hunt sounds way more exciting than hunting whitetails. I've got 1 PP here in CO, and I'll be chasing them in a crappy unit with the rifle in October.

[hornart]

I have havested all 3 ,,grew up hunting blacktails in the cascade mountains of Washington,,taken some whitetails in Montana and Missouri and mulies in Wyoming and Colorado and New Mexico

[T/H]

high plains open country mule deer for me. this hunt is during the rut. it's nothing to blow 2-3 stalks a day on big mature bucks. can't wait for January! i've hunted whitetails out of trees and that is relaxing but i prefer a run n gun style of hunting

[LckyTylr]

I think Vanish did a great job of explaining pressured WT hunting vs. Western WT and Mulie hunting. As I mentioned, I'm also from Western Upstate NY and it's just different. You don't have the opportunities with highly pressured WT's as you do with backcountry mulies. Back East, if you are sneaking around and jump a deer, even a small buck sporting his first rack, he's up and GONE, he won't take a few leaps and turn around to see what spooked him, he's Mach III to the next farm. What's really difficult is how thick the cover is, it's really not advantageous to spot and stalk, because you will make so much noise that all of the deer on the property you have permission to hunt . . . . . will end up on property you can't hunt. Having grown up and cut my teeth on pressured whitetails, I still find it very exciting to draw back on a decent buck and make it all come together . . . . . . but in all honesty, after having lived and hunted in Idaho for 5 years, I'll NEVER give up the run-n-gun style . . . . . . even if it's for curious mulies. Now Elk hunting, that's the PERFECT combination, an animal every bit as smart and crafty as a whitetail, that travels around in groups of multiple noises, eyes and ears . . . . and a run-n-gun style, that's heaven!

[Swede]

I have hunted Blacktails and Mule deer. A big buck of either species is a real trophy. I have killed more Mulies than Blackies, so I would prefer a good Blacktail now.

[elk308]

I have done muley and blacktail and prefer blacktail. They are so sneaky the way they just go right by. Someday a whitetail is in my future..a BIG one.

[MT_Nate]

Muleys and Whitetails are the species available to us in NW Montana. I drool over huge muley racks and hunting the country they like the best, but the agressive nature of a rutting whitetail blows away anything I've seen out of a rutting muley I've seen in several decades of hunting. A mature, rutting whitetail in November is easily as aggressive as a slobbering bull elk in September. Now if they'd only learn how to bugle!...

[bowhunterty]

Have a thing for a big blacktail. Shot a few small ones. In 2013 a big alpine buck is what I have my sights set on.